The History of Morterra
After a bothersome trek through Death’s Grasp, I finally get to talk to one of the most ancient beings in the world; Kaenen the Worldshaper. This dragon has lived through the ages and has seen countless lives be born and perish. I ask him about the history he has seen unfurl throughout his lifetime and the secrets he has learned. The History of Morterra As Described by Kaenen the Worldshaper Kaenen was by far the most difficult to track down to interview. I guess it serves me right, if one seeks a great mind, a great journey should be ahead of them. Finally, my party’s reached the Northern Great Gatespire. Given the environment’s powerful connection to the Arcane, it’s only logical for the Worldshaper to be here. “How did this world come to be?” Right, good question. Well, believe it or not, it wasn’t me. I wouldn’t have been born for millennia, aeons even. Well, it all started with the Elemental Plane; the wild origin of all matter. This little plane was actually a failed attempt at creating a more stable plane. When the being that formed it realised it was too… reactive, so to say, the plane was discarded and forgotten about. Why this error remained in existence, I could not answer. But from that little nodule, the Elemental Plane took shape. Still as unpredictable as ever, the space within the plane is a violent mixture of water, air, earth and fire. Planes may seem infinite, young one, but even they have limits. And as the Elemental Plane grew more and more, it became less stable with every passing century. And then, plop, the membrane that surrounded the plane shattered, sending the matter it contained into the dark void that we now call the Astral Sea. That was only the beginning, though. The newly freed rock and water reacted with the vast emptiness of the Astral Sea, conglomerating and forming physical bodies within a world where nothing should exist. Clearly, the Astral Sea revolted and tried to expel the matter within it. But where could it send it? The Elemental Plane was full and continued to send out into the Astral Sea, and because the God, if you will, had left the multiverse unfinished, there was nowhere the Astral Sea could berid itself of the Elemental Plane’s discharges. So, it created somewhere to dump it all. Three brand new planes, the Astral Sea spawned into existence. They orbited the edge of the Astral Sea, so whatever the Elemental Plane threw at it, the Sea could simply push out into the new worlds. As you might’ve guessed, this is where the Inner Physical Planes come in; the Feywild, the Shadowfell and the Prime, or Material Plane. I spent years looking into why the three Inner Planes are so different from one another. You’ve probably read about them, while the Prime is a tender ecosystem of millions of aspects carefully interacting with one another, the Feywild is an unpredictable and... energetic, for lack of a better word, world. At last, the Shadowfell is a silent precipice of nothing but death. But I did figure it out. As it turns out, each piece of matter has its own energy when first created. Based on this energy, the Elemental Plane sends it out into the Astral Sea at a certain velocity. High-energy matter flies at blazing speeds through the Astral Sea, and funnels into the Feywild, where it retains its speed. Meanwhile, low-energy matter stays inside of the Sea for years, sometimes disintegrating before it can even reach one of the Inner Planes. This matter is sent to the Shadowfell by the Astral Sea, which explains the plane’s gloomy interior. Any matter that isn’t sufficiently powerful or weak, takes a moderate amount of time to reach the edge of the Astral Sea, and gets filtered into the Prime, which has allowed it to facilitate such a wondrous ecosystem. “Where did our gods come from?” Yes, yes. I’ll get to that. To talk about deities, we must first have civilisation. I’m not sure where or when sentient life started, but I do know who the first were. In the Prime, life began sprouting in the primordial soup that was much of the plane’s constituents. Born of mud and soil, the Dwarves were born. Stout, brave, they build fortresses from the resources around them. Soon after followed the Goliath, believed to be the work of rock. They embraced a more simplistic lifestyle, hunting game and making tents out of hides. In the meantime, the Feywild and Elemental Plane were also brewing up a storm. The Feywild’s wild magic created unexpected elements within the world, leading to the formation of Elves and Gnomes. The Elemental Plane used similar magic, as the energy that inhabited formed matter was even stronger there than in the Inner Planes. The magic released during collisions of elements, spawning creatures such as Genies and Elementals. Now that we’ve had a crash course on life in general, let’s look at what that life created. As you may remember from the beginning of my story, whatever being created us, forgot about us. Hidden away, concealed from any other multiverse of omnipotent being, the people of Morterra were without divine guidance or something to believe in. But the concept of faith is inherent to any sentient being, and so their prayers would not be without effect. People sought out things to believe in. The earth they trod upon, the night sky that hung above, the soul of beings. But most importantly, ideals and what they represented. People began associating natural phenomena with concepts. The Triton call the salmon a symbol for freedom, the Gnomes gave the sparrow the significance of peace. This would mark the beginning of the Outer Noumenal Planes. The Outer Planes were worlds created by civilisation. When one concept gets a large enough following, it would be given its own plane of existence, beyond the physical-noumenal border world of the Ethereal Plane. Physical manifestations of intangible ideas or symbols would inhabit the newly created plane, which could both be a good thing, as well as a bad thing. The Outer Planes follow the design that mortals in the Inner Planes give them. This could range from bravery and tranquillity, to death and pain. Because the Morterrans gave natural phenomena their praise, the Outer Planes would often be inhabited and ruled by Spirits of animals, plants and landscapes. These beings generally pertain some sort of divine power, capable of travelling to the Inner Planes, answering prayers and even granting wishes. This sounds fine, doesn’t it? Pray to a stag for a bountiful harvest, have a grand time learning about life with a snake, oh the pleasures you’ll have. That all ends, however, when you realise people fear. Imagine this: a small child lives in a coastal village, and one day her father brings home an octopus from his latest fishing trip. The girl had never seen an octopus before, and seeing it wriggle about with its eight appendages and alien eyes, scared her. The next night, she dreams of the octopus. Her fear amplified the critter’s unsettling features, and the child’s imagination adds malicious intent and hatred to the being’s mind. Enter Mind Flayers; unnatural abominations that belong nowhere, but the Illithid Outer Plane that came to be when legends and fear conglomerated into a large, terrifying concept. Fortunately for you lot, love is often stronger than fear, so of the Outer Planes, the ones of positive charge tend to orbit the Ethereal Plane closer, keeping out the monstrosities that endanger the things that created them. Besides the Primordial Constants and some of the major Spirits, I’m sure you’ve encountered some lesser Spirits in your time on this earth. Some old soldier’s ladybug medallion, a rabbit or hare with an alluring aura, what have you. Lesser Spirits tend to be particularly strong in close-knit clans like the Dwarves. One Spirit can guide an entire lineage through tough times, the clan becoming forever indebted to them and devoting their traditions to their patron. “Sorry, the Primordial Constants?” Oh, thought I clarified that already. The Primordial Constants, also just the Primordials for short, are three Spirits of exponentially more power than typical Spirits. As I said, people began worshipping the ground, the night and the soul before anything else. These three were there since the very beginning, before the Outer Planes even. The Primordials have changed a bit in shape over the years, but are still firmly the thing they originally were associated with. You have Noleph, the Body. Also called Mother Nature or the World Turtle, started out as an infinite stretch of land, and eventually grew into her more recognisable form of a gargantuan sea turtle, made of soil and dirt. Upon her shell rests a delicate ecosystem with its own seasons, signifying the cycle of life. Next was Aspaar, the Mind. He is a snake of epic proportions, the scales on his back are black as night, with only sporadic white ones forming constellations among the vast darkness. He is the embodiment of “professional distance”, so to say. Always watching and learning, but never interfering. Then, you have Naie, the Soul. Naie was created shortly before the Outer Planes took shape, and lurks the Ethereal Plane looking for the souls of the recently deceased. It takes the shape of a wolf made out of platinum plates that shift from calm to ferocious based on the soul that encounters it. When you die, you must stand trial before Naie, who will then decide which Outer Plane shall be your final resting place. Even if you follow another Spirit, it is wise to keep the Primordial Constants in the back of your mind. Should your Spirit fail you, you are always free to seek refuge with one of the Primordials. “Who lives in our world?” That’s a very good question, with an excruciatingly long answer. I’ll try to keep it brief and cut it all up into digestible bits, but I can’t promise anything. Let’s begin at the dawn of the Dwarves. The timeline of civilisation on the continent Huran begins in the Pre-Invasion Era, when the Dwarves came to be, arguably the oldest race. I described earlier how Dwarves were the first to form, born from earth and mud. They quickly colonised their homelands, where now Lighthaven lies. While that country is now primarily grasslands and forests, it used to be as rocky as the untraversable mountains of its eastern neighbour, Endrall. The Dwarves built mighty fortresses out of the rock that they gathered from the many mountains they felled. These operations revealed another species, however; the Tabaxi. Feral keepers of Lighthaven’s mountains, the Dwarves exiled them to the twilit forests to the north and south until they developed enough to integrate into the stoneborn’s society. Many still wish to reclaim their righteous land to this day. While the short race was busy building its legacy, in Endrall the Goliath were born. Tall as the mountains and skin made from rock, these relatives of modern Giants remained more tribal throughout their history. Hunting creatures, nomadic settlements, the whole deal. It wouldn’t be until centuries later that they first left Endrall to meet other races. Up north, a curious development took place. The landscape of what is now Dragonhearth has a strong connection to the Elemental Plane, and some of its magic seeps through into the Prime there. In Dragonhearth itself, it led to the slow but steady coming of Lizardfolk, reptilian humanoids with slight elemental powers. Even further north, however, in the continent of Noijia, the ties to the Elemental Plane were even stronger. It created creatures similar to Lizardfolk, but with much,much more control over magic. Noijia became the home turf of Dragons, Dragonborn and Kobolds. Next up is the Post-Invasion Era. While the Stoneborn were working out life with the Tabaxi and Elementalborn, Feyborn founded their first cities in the Feywild. Gnomes: small humanoids with curious eyes grew from the more tepid regions of the Feywild, allowing them much more control over their own being and their environment. On the other side of the spectrum, you’ve got Eladrin, the ancestors of Elves. They have wild magic positively surging through their veins, making them emotional and unpredictable. Their personality was often directly related to their environment however, so their descendants in the Prime had generally less of this energy running through them, leading to the plethora of different Elf subspecies. Now, at first Feyborn had no way of entering the Prime, or any other plane for that matter, until a large portal between the Prime and the Feywild appeared overnight, connecting the two worlds. Gnomes were the first to enter, quickly forming a settlement around the portal that would become Madeo, the capital of Snelblum. Elves were soon to follow the small expeditioners, and many quickly grew enamoured with the Prime’s pristine landscapes. Not so much can be said of other races, however. Elves were condescending towards Dwarves and didn’t even acknowledge Tabaxi or Lizardfolk unless they were in their way. Tensions between the two factions were frayed, and wouldn’t be resolved until much later. Fortunately the Gnomes were much more amiable, becoming philanthropists who helped anyone in need with their powerful arcane magic. This is where real change started happening: the Splinter Era. Gnomes had mastered travel between planes at this point, which allowed for continent-wide exploration, as well as contacting the Shadowfell. Both of these accesses led to the formation of new species; in the western reaches of Huran, the opening to a great cave system was found. Few dared to enter, but those who did made their homes there, leading to the Shadow races of Drow, Duergar and Svirfneblin. The gate to the Shadowfell meanwhile, led to a small settlement of Elves making their home in the dead world. Why anyone would want to live there is utterly beyond me, but they did it anyway and evolved into Shadar Kai. It’s a harsh environment in the world of death, so the Elvish colonists have become quite harsh themselves. It’s around now we also begin to see the first traces of Humans and Halflings. Their exact origins still elude me, because clearly they did not originate from the earth like Dwarves and Goliath, nor did they form from magic such as Genies and Elves. My current hypothesis is that they share a similar path of development as Tabaxi, evolved from an animalistic predecessor. The two races’ impressive ability to learn and adapts has made them a welcomed and wanted species across the continent though. The Splinter Era was an age of great exploration, and attempts at crossing the seas were made. From Noijia, great ships harbouring Dragonborn and Kobolds reached the coast of Dragonhearth, connecting the draconic people with their reptilian cousins. Meanwhile in the south, the nation of Snelblum discovered two new islands beyond the horizon of their home. Life had developed here undisturbed, and many exotic plants and animals could be found here. Most interestingly, however, was the presence of the Kenku, Tortles and Triton who made the islands their home. We’re finally reaching recent history; the Great Unsettling. It was an arduous time for all, but most of us are still here, which is good. So with the introduction of Humans into the mix, we also started seeing the first forms of hybridising. They really couldn’t keep their hands off of anything, even Genies and Fiends weren’t save. That’s how we got Half-Elves, the occasional Genasi and one or two Tieflings. It was a controversial subject at first, obviously, but it would quickly be forgotten about due to what happened next. Another invasion happened. Not a benign one like with the Feyborn, but a much more gruesome one; the Oftspoke species entered Huran, they were called Goblinoids. Oftspoke is an archipelago across the Crossing Sea to the west of Huran, it is supposedly impossible to cross without unbelievable luck and skill. Nonetheless, the Goblinoids made it through. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears and Orcs in massive warships crashed the west coast, ravaging and pillaging everything. The west coast is nearly closed in with mountain ranges fortunately, so defenses could be held consistently, but they were bound to fail with sheer amount of soldiers the Goblinoids could produce out of seemingly nowhere. The sieges raged on for decades, and slowly the Oftspokers infiltrated the entire continent, bar Endrall. During this, several wars broke loose, among which was the Warband Crusade. An Orcish tactician tried to eradicate all Elves from Huran, and nearly succeeded until an unexpected Demon invasion threw a wrench in their plans. Since the Goblinoids were the most prevalent people in Huran at the time, since almost everyone else was hiding or fortified enough to withstand a demonic assault, the Fiends managed to cull the Goblinoids’ numbers, allowing the original inhabitants of Huran to retaliate and liberate themselves from the green-skinned invasion. With the Goblin problem reduced to the minor nuisance that it is today, Huran had to deal with the Demons now. It took a little while, during which many turned to other planes for refuge, or even sided with the Fiends for unspeakable gifts, one man stood up against the chaos; Sylvan of Lighthaven, descendant of one of the country’s founders. He rallied a holy crusade and purged the land of the Fiends by throwing them into a portal to the Ethereal Plane, located in the northeast of Lighthaven. Sylvan was overzealous, however, and chose to also eliminate all Tieflings, who had been growing in numbers since the invasion. He did this by banishing them to the Ethereal Plane as well, where they were left to die. Many Feyborn did not agree with Sylvan’s actions, and sent rescue parties to the treacherous plane to save the people left there. Although not wholly successful, a number of the demontouched humans have found refuge among the Feyborn nations, living primarily in the Gnomish city of Acrumond. And that brings us to today. The north is still ruled by scalykind, separated from the Stoneborn and Human civilisations south of them by an immense desert and treacherous jungles. The Shadow races and their allies protect the west coasts, and the southeast is mostly Feyborn. The seas belong to the Sea Elves and Triton, and Goblinoids are still an occasional hassle, though Dragonhearth has made attempts at integrating them into society. “Where did our magic come from?” As you might’ve surmised, most of the magic in the Morterran multiverse originates from three sources; the creation energy from the Elemental Plane, the noumenal power from the Outer Planes, and Arcane magic. The first two have their own subcategories that Arcane magic lacks, which I’ll get to in a bit. First off, Planar magic. This magic draws directly from the creation energy of the matter present in an Inner Plane. This could be from any of the Physical Planes, like how Genies on the Prime can draw power from the Elemental Plane to conjure storms or flood lands in scorching lava, or how a Feyspeaker druid can call upon the Feywild to lend them power. Each plane contains a different form of magic, that can be harnessed by those with enough power. Then there is Divine magic, originating from the Outer Planes. This magic is powered by ideals and devotion more than physical energy, and generally is under control of a being ruling in the Outer Planes. Those who devote themselves to a Spirit may obtain control over Holy or Fiendish magic, others are born chosen and have it run in the blood. Those with a patron or guardian, however, will forever be at the mercy of those they serve, risking losing their power if they go against their deity. Lastly, there is Arcane magic. I suppose you could draw comparison to playing an instrument: you pull a string, and it makes a sound. Pull them in the correct order, and you get a song. That’s how Arcane magic works. Those ‘strings’ are strewn across the multiverse, keeping the world cohesive, so playing with them does come at a risk to those uneducated. In the end, those who wish to wield magical power, will always need to draw it from somewhere. Be it a Paladin’s devotion, a Druid’s vow to the natural order, a Warlock’s contract or, in Sorcerers’ cases, their own blood. If ever your well of power is closed, or runs empty, it will not be long until you yourself are powerless.